True Identities
by cascadedkiwi
Summary: 'Ranko Togoshi' posts an online article claiming she knows the true identities of the Black Foxes and goes on to challenge the group to a timed contest before she spill their names to the world. How will Kiyuki deal with this, having JUST joined the group and still dealing with the inner conflicts of right, wrong, and trust when it comes to her best friend?
1. Chapter 1: Life As Normal

**The spark for this fanfic comes from the question I keep asking myself everytime I read a mission scene in LLFTX: WHY don't the Black Foxes cover their faces on their missions? Yeah, Takkun deals with the security cameras and stuff but still! I especially wondered about this when I read Tatsuro's route. But anyway, on with the story!**

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True Identities - A Love Letter From a Thief X Fanfiction

Chapter 1: Life as Normal

"Congratulations on that top story, Ranko!" I exclaimed as we toasted with sodas at a cafe.

"Thanks, Kiyuki!" Ranko's smile was brimming over with joy. "I feel like I'm finally really establishing my name as a journalist. All these years as a blogger are bearing fruit at last." Ranko took a big bite out of her cake. "So, how are things with you?"

"Me?" I blinked. "Same old, same old. Things are going good with the museum and everything." I picked up my drink.

"Speaking of the museum, you know what I'd really love to do a story on? _The Black Foxes._ They haven't been in the news for a while."

I nearly choked on my soda. "Maybe they're just laying low for a while. It can't be good for a thief group to get any kind of publicity, can it?"

"I mean, yeah," Ranko agreed with a grin, "but that's what makes it a scoop!" She leaned in closer to me and dropped her voice to an expert whisper. "You swear when they broke into your museum you didn't see their faces? Not one?"

I avoided Ranko's eager gaze. "It was really dark that night..." It _was_ dark in the museum that night. I didn't lie. I couldn't lie to my best friend. I just... couldn't tell her the truth either. I plastered a troubled smile on my face and glanced up at her. "It was kind of a traumatic experience, you know? Being alone when a bunch of thieves break in?"

Ranko sat back down. "Oh, shoot, you're right. And it wasn't that long ago either, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to sound insensitive."

"It's fine." I looked down at my cake again. It didn't look as appetizing as it did half a minute ago. I took another gulp of my now flat soda.

I'd always felt a tiny bit upset not telling Ranko about my involvement with The Black Foxes. She's my best friend. She's a journalist. It's not that I don't trust her - I do! It's just... dangerous for her to know. I haven't had to deal with this inner conflict for a while - not since the incident first happened 3 months ago. I felt guilty about keeping the secret, sure, but I had just pushed it to the back of my mind in light of everything that's been happening.

Time for a distraction.

"Hey guys!" I walked into Le Renard Noir super bouncy and cheerful.

"Hi there, Yu-chan!" Hiro greeted me, matching my bubbly entrance. "Did something good happen?"

"No." Sourpuss Takuto glanced up at me from his bowl of pork noodles. "Fake smile is gross."

"Takutoooo!" I kept up my act, pouting. "Can you please not say mean things today?"

Takuto grunted and pointedly slurped up some noodles.

I stuck out my tongue at him and sat down to the bar counter. "Hi, Kenshi!"

Kenshi replied to my childish greeting with a startled smile. "Hey there, Akahime. Congrats on whatever's got you smiling so hard."

"Thank you!" I slapped my hand on the counter top. "Can I have a pork rice, please, Boss?"

"Coming right up!" came Atsumu's cheerful voice from the kitchen.

"Ok, what happened?" Riki dropped into the seat on the other side of me. "Something's obviously not right with you."

I replied to our overly sharp leader with a silly grin. "What are you talkin' about? I just got a new lease on life is all!"

Riki gave me a knowing look. "Come on, Kiyuki. Anyone can see you're putting on."

"I am not!" I argued. "Is a girl not allowed to just be happy for no reason?" I immediately dug into my food the moment Boss put it down in front of me.

"If you were _actually_ happy it would be no problem."

"I have no idea what any of you are talking about," I insisted, waving an overly nonchalant hand at Hiro's agreement with Riki's sentiment.

Boss looked down at me with an understanding smile as he shined a glass. "It's ok, Kiyuki. The boys just want to make sure nothing's seriously wrong."

I smiled. "I know, Boss." This happy act has always been a self-defense mechanism for me when my mind decides to dwell on inner conflicts. Happy outside deflects from conflicted inside. I think the guys are used to it by now as well and don't fight me to come out of it as much as they used to when I first joined the group. "I'll be fine."

"You'd better hope you will after this," came Takuto's harsh voice from behind me.

I blinked. "What do you mean?" I asked as I turned to face him.

"Looks like _somebody_ couldn't keep their mouth shut about us." Takuto backed away from his laptop so we could all view the screen.

 _'WHY DON'T THE BLACK FOXES HIDE THEIR FACES?'_ was plastered in huge bold letters at the top of the screen.

"What is that?" Hiro asked as we all quickly gathered around for a closer look.

"Some online blog post claiming to know all our identities," Takuto replied as he scrolled down the article.

"WHAT?!"

We all scanned through the article, each reading standout fragments aloud.

"I won't spill the beans just yet," Hiro read.

"But all I can say is that all five male members are extremely pleasing to eyes..." A hint of red colored Atsumu's cheeks as he read that.

Without even looking up, Takuto grumbled, "Nasty."

"Even Boss?" Hiro commented quizzically.

"Hey!" Boss argued. "I am good-looking!"

"Saying that yourself?" Takuto quipped back. "Sad."

Boss pouted and I rubbed his back reassuringly. "Don't mind them, Boss. I think you're quite handsome."

"Thank you, Kiyuki." Boss sniffed a little as the other boys smirked before turning their attention back to the article.

"Check this out!" Kenshi exclaimed. "The new female member is quite pretty in her own right, and keeping up quite well with the boys despite having only recently joined the elusive noble thief group."

All our eyes went wide.

"How does this person know about me?"

Riki's face went stern. "Takuto, did you find out who wrote that article?"

"Mm. Right here." Takuto scrolled down to the bottom of the page and I nearly passed out.

 _'Written by Ranko Togoshi.'_

"You just couldn't keep quiet, huh?" Takuto glared at me.

"I swear I didn't tell! I haven't told anyone! This has to be some kind of mistake!" I denied it vehemently. _The whole reason I was upset today was because I can't tell her!_

"So how'd she get all this information, then?" Riki asked, looking me directly in the eye.

"I don't know, but it wasn't from me!"

"She's your best friend, right? I get that it would be hard to keep such a big secret from someone you're so close to," Boss offered sympathetically.

"But I'm telling you I DIDN'T TELL HER!" I continued to insist my innocence, but there was no proving it. There was Ranko's name, clear as day, at the bottom of the pre-tell-all article with a picture of her to boot. The only thing it didn't do was call our actual names.

As the guys continued to bear down on me, I felt a pair of big hands rest on my shoulders. I jumped, almost on the verge of tears.

"I believe her," came Kenshi's voice from above my head. "She says she didn't tell. Togoshi's sister must've found out some other way."

"But the details, Kenny," Hiro said. "I want to believe Kiyuki, too, but there's no other logical explanation. How would she know that there's a girl in the group now? How does she know what we look like?"

"It's not from Akahime." Kenshi remained firm, like the big brother I'd always thought him to be in the group.

"Thanks for sticking up for me Kenshi," I said with a grateful smile.

"Ok, then. Say if Kiyuki _didn't_ leak to her _best friend_ ," Riki mused out loud, still obviously not even trying to take my innocence into consideration. "Where else could she get information about us? We're airtight on covering our tracks before, on, and after every mission. Where'd she get the info?"

"A bluff?" Kenshi suggested.

"Deinitely not a bluff," Takuto countered, scrolling through the article again. "She gave physical descriptions of each of us - vague enough that it could be anyone on the street, but this girl knows specifics."

"So what do we do?" Hiro asked. "Drop a threat and pay her a visit?"

"No!" I shouted before I could stop myself.

"I know she's your friend but we can't risk-"

"No!" I continued in a calmer voice. "I... I'll talk to her. Let me talk to her first, please."

Riki went quiet.

"Please, Riki." I looked him right in the eyes as I insisted.

"...ok." Riki agreed after a pause. "But there will be some conditions."

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 **Thanks for reading and please review! This fanfic is just a spark I have so any ideas to further the story are more than welcome. ^_^**

 **~Casacadedkiwi~**


	2. Chapter 2: Ranko Togoshi

**Here's Chapter 2! I'm thinking of changing the title of the story... Just ideas still swimming around.**

 **Happy reading!**

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Chapter 2

I squeezed the strap on my bag tightly in my palms as I walked the sparsely populated streets and reviewed my conversation with Riki a night before...

 _"Ok, you can talk to her first but you have to abide by our conditions."_

 _I nodded obediently to Riki's tone that left no room for response._

 _"You'll wear your transmitter on for the entire conversation," he started._

 _'You're making me wear a bug?!' I almost screamed out loud before considering my position. At this point, none of them were trusting anything I said- no matter how much they may have wanted to._

 _"Takuto will be monitoring all your conversations remotely, so don't try anything funny."_

 _I was taken back by how harshly and matter-of-factly he was speaking to me. It was like the night we first met- all business._

I shifted my weight from foot to foot as I stood outside of the Togoshi's door. Just as I gathered up the courage to knock-

*CRASH*

"Waaaah!"

"Oh, sorry!"

The door flew open inward as someone burst from the house, nearly bone-rushing me to the floor. Two large hands dug into my arms, saving me from busting my head open on the porch railing.

 _Whew!_ "Thank you," I said to my rescuer before looking up see who it was.

"Oh, Kiyuki! My bad!" A surprised Tatsuro's wide eyes were inches from my face. He made sure I was straightened up before releasing me and quickly looking away. "Sorry about that, Kiyuki." He apologized again as he stepped by me. "I just got called in to work and-"

"You're in a hurry. I get it. It's totally fine!" I gave him a bright smile. "You'd better get a move on, then!"

"Oh, shoot! You're right!" Tatsuro bolted pass me. He called back over his shoulder, "If you're looking for Ranko, she's knocked out in her room!"

"Thanks!" I called back to him, almost certain he didn't hear me. I let out a breath and walked into the house, locking the door behind me.

I made a beeline straight for Ranko's oh-so-familiar room and found her just as her brother had said, passed out over her laptop sprawled across the bed.

I put my bag down, feeling a bit guilty about waking her up. But this was important. I sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Ranko," I called gently. "Hey, Ranko, get up. I need to talk to you."

"Wha..." Ranko rolled over, her long octopus curls spreading all over the sheets and across her face. "Nngh..." She batted her hand like she was shooing off some minor annoyance.

"Ranko," I called louder, rattling her by the shoulder. "Wake up! We gotta talk! It's about a scoop."

Ranko's face twitched at the word "scoop." As I knew it would. She rolled over onto her back and let her eyes fall open. "What's the story?" she asked in a gravelly voice.

"It's about The Black Foxes."

She rubbed her eyes and felt around on the bed blindly until the back of her hand smacked into the side of her laptop screen.

 _Ow,_ I thought as Ranko yelped the word aloud.

"What's the scoop about The Black Foxes, Kiyuki? Spill!" A now wide-awake Ranko was looking at me expectantly while rubbing her smarting hand.

"You tell me," I said, looking over at the laptop. "How'd you find out who they were?"

"Say what?"

"I saw your blog post last night," I said. "A huge pre-tell-all about the identities of The Black Foxes. How'd you manage that one?" I spoke good-naturedly.

Ranko scrunched up her eyebrows and turned her laptop to face her, rubbing a finger wildly over the mousepad to wake the screen up. "Identities of The Black Foxes? Look, as much as I would absolutely LOVE to take the credit for that one, I haven't posted on my blog in almost a month."

"Say what?"

She turned the screen to face me. "See? I was just working on a comeback post updating my followers on stuff. I'm not even half finished with it yet."

I looked at the screen. Everything was as Ranko said.

"What is this about a - what did you call it? A 'pre-tell-all' article?"

"Yeah," I replied, stretching my fingers to the keyboard. "The title was... 'Why don't... the Black Foxes... hide.. their.. faces..?'" I typed it in the search bar as I said it.

"They don't? That's pretty bold, don't you think?"

I nodded. Honestly, I'd wondered the same thing when I went on my first mission. The guys had assured me everything was fine but I had - and still do - insist on tying my face with a bandana just in case. We're thieves for heaven's sake! How blatant is it to just go in with no safeguards on keeping your identity a secret?

"Amazing that they haven't been caught on even one security camera after all this time..." Ranko mused in awe as she tried to gather her wayward curls into a more controlled look.

 _With Takuto's skills any capture might as well have not happened at all._ I quickly scanned through the results. "No, no, no... no, no... this isn't it either..."

"Kiyuki, what are you looking for so intently?" Ranko peeked over my shoulder as I continued scrolling and muttering to myself.

"The Black Fox article I told you about. It's posted under your name on a blog with your picture on it and everything. It even uses your writing style."

"Really?" Ranko's tone had gotten serious. "Every writer knows plagiarism of any kind is the blackest sin a writer can commit against a fellow writer. Using my name _and_ style?"

"Found it!" I exclaimed triumphantly, clinking on a link that looked more promising than the rest.

"Lemme see!" Ranko pushed down on my shoulder, locked eyes on the screen for all of three seconds before squealing in disgust, "EW! And look at the picture they used! Could they have chosen a worse face-shot?!"

"The article, Ranko, focus." I scanned through the paragraphs. "Yeah, this is it. Did you write this?"

Ranko's eyes darted back and forth as she read the article. "I wish! Whoever this is, I am so jealous of them! Mad they used my name and that awful picture, but so jealous! If this is for real, it's the scoop of the century! Five good-looking guys... and a _girl?_ There's a girl in The Black Foxes?!"

Ranko leaned so far forward it seemed she wanted to be sucked into the screen.

"Ow, Ranko. Ow." I pushed my back against her.

"Oh, sorry!" She plopped back down into a sitting position on the bed, caused the mattress to shake. "But I can't believe there's a girl in the group! Who would've thought?!"

 _Yeah... who would've thought..._

"If this is for real, the only way this fake Ranko would know is if one of them told her. Not even the government can get a hold of these guys and she's claiming to know _names?_ " Ranko drew in a long, loud gasp. "What if this person is the girl's friend?!"

"What?!"

"Yeah!" Ranko continued her theory excitedly, either ignoring or not noticing my panic. "No one's ever heard or even thought of a girl being in the group, right? And it says right here that she 'just recently' joined the group. That has to be it! Oh man, I wish that girl was my friend..."

 _She_ is _your friend,_ I thought, my heart weighed down with grief. No, not grief; more like... regret? Anyway, I had a better thought to dwell on.

 _It's not her._ Relief crashed over me like a tidal wave as that realization finally settled in. A smile tugged at my lips and I fought the urge to run from the room screaming. _It wasn't Ranko!_

In record time, I burst through LRN's door at full speed. "IT WASN'T RANKO!" I hollered at the top of my lungs like I'd just won the lottery.

"Shut up..." Takuto grumbled from his seat as Riki came down the stairs.

"Man, your month is huge. I could hear you all the way in my room." Riki took a dignified seat at the bar counter.

"It wasn't her!" I screamed again, happy tears threatening to spill down my cheeks. I was bouncing on my heels like I was having a sugar rush. My best friend didn't know our secret. Should I really be this happy about it?

"We know," Takuto said dryly. "We were listening, moron."

I blinked. I'd totally forgotten about the transceiver I'd been wearing the entire time. "Then you know I'm not lying just to cover for my friend!" I quickly shot back to hide my embarrassment.

"She could just be lying to cover it up," Hiro said.

"Ranko wouldn't lie to me about this," I countered resolutely. "I'm the first person she tells whenever she gets a huge scoop."

"Her reactions all seemed genuine," Riki said. "Congratulations, Kiyuki. Your friend is in the clear."

"Yes!" I pumped a fist in victory before I could stop myself.

"So now what?" Hiro asked. "The actual person who wrote this is still out there."

"Yeah, how do we find them before they spill?" Kenshi asked.

"We definitely can't afford to wait to see if they're bluffing or not about what they know," Boss said with a serious look on his face.

I was a bit reluctant to speak, but mustered up the courage to pipe in anyway. "Can't Takuto try tracing the IP address of the computer the article was uploaded from?"

"Did that," Takuto replied. "Matches your friend's."

"No way!"

"How is that possible? We all heard her say she hasn't posted in a month," Kenshi said.

"Either this girl is really good with computers or your friend's a really good actress," Takuto said pointedly.

"The girl is good with computers," I shot back. "Really good. I wanna find out who she is - for Ranko's sake as well as ours."

"Sounds good to me," Boss said. "How about we all look into what avenues for information we have? Check to see how far this article's gotten around."

"For such a big claim it's not even on the first page on the internet search results list," I remarked, remembering how hard I had to search for it to show Ranko. "It was actually on like the 6th or 7th page when I tried to find it earlier."

"Ploy." Takuto grumbled as his finger prattled across the keys of his laptop.

"That's all we can go off for now," Riki stated, standing. "Based on how the article was written, this girl seems like she's going to draw this out for as long as she can. Let's use that to our advantage."

"Right." Everyone nodded in agreement.

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 **OK, my lovely readers! Thanks for reading, PLEASE review! Chapter 3 will be out next week. All ideas are welcome!**

 **~Cascadedkiwi~**


	3. Chapter 3: Blogger's Crush

**Here's Chapter 3. Sorry it's been so long. Thanks to the Guest reviewer who encouraged me to keep going with this. This year has just been... hard. I'll try to write up some more later on when I think of something!**

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 **Chapter 3: Blogger's Crush**

 _Although all of the Black Fox guys are cuties, one in particular's got the most of my attention._

Hiro's eyes sparkled as he read the sentence aloud. 'Ranko Togoshi' had posted a follow-up singling out one of the guys as her eye candy.

 _I won't dare call his name here - not yet - but he'll know who he is as he keeps reading._

"Why am I actually curious to see which one she picked?" I murmured to myself.

"Because you're sick and nasty," Takuto answered.

I rolled my eyes at him.

"I kinda wanna know, too," Kenshi admitted with a smile.

"She's the enemy," Riki pointed out.

I looked over at him. "You can't honestly tell me that you aren't the least bit curious as to which one of you she's got a crush on, Mr. No-girl-can-resist-me Yanase."

Riki's self-assured nature got the best of him as he answered with a cocky smile, "Is there even any doubt that it's me?"

"Therrre it is," I said, nodding knowingly, and secretly wishing that it wasn't him.

 _My Black Fox cutie, or should I say No. 1 cutie, would have be the muscle of the group. Tall, strong, adventurous- Ladies, if you see those arms in those tight, black long sleeves!_

"She's definitely seen you guys," I commented, purposely avoiding stating the obvious.

"Kenshi?!" Hiro called out in surprise. "No offense, but, really?"

"Ladies like brawn," Atsumu said, glancing over at Kenshi with a grin.

"Is it wrong for me to take this as a compliment?" Kenshi said with an embarrassed smile, his cheeks a boyish red.

"Not. At. All," I stated firmly before Takuto could dish out some smart comment. "The girl's got good taste."

Riki looked at me. "Sounds like you agree with her," he said suggestively.

"I said nothing of the sort!" I dropped my face to hide my cheeks. "Hurry up and keep reading, Hiro!"

"Aww, ok," Hiro looked back to the screen.

 _And I'm not just basing it off looks for all you shallow minds out there. This particular Black Fox has physical as well as mental strength._

"Don't we all?" Boss murmured to himself in the kitchen.

"Is she calling Kenny smart?" Takuto asked.

Hiro looked up in thought. "Well, he's not an idiot but..."

"Guys?!"

"It's fine, Akahime." Kenshi laughed like their comments didn't bother him at all. "I'm not the one you think of when you hear the word 'smart'. That's either Takuto or Riki."

 _He's the one that goes in and checks out the place before they start a heist. First set of boots on the ground. Really keen senses and keeps the group's spirits up if things get tough._

"How does she know all this?!"

"She's even got the group dynamic down!" I said in awe. "It's like she's been watching you guys like a daytime drama."

 _He's also got some medical experience from his day job so he doesn't have to kiss away any boo-boos you ladies get - although I'm sure none of us would mind a kiss anywhere from any one of these guys, hehe._

"Skip... skip..." Hiro was scanning through the article while we talked among ourselves.

 _Don't worry, all the other guys will get a post dedicated to them, too. It's really hard to settle on just one._

"Hey guys, check this out!" Hiro suddenly yelled out.

 _And to The Black Foxes, I say, let's make this a mission. You come steal me away before I write my last post on you guys. If you win, the secret stays safe. If I win, fangirls will be swarming you guys like flies to a light bulb._

 _Ready? Mission commence! Or should I say:_

 _"IT'S SHOWTIME!"_

The bar went dead silent. Everyone's eyes were as wide as they could go, mouths agape.

Riki broke the silence. "We've GOT to find her."

...

I thought about our dilemma as I cleaned up my things at the museum. This blogger posing as Ranko was something else. She knew way too much about us to just be some simple loner behind a computer screen. All her posts, seemingly, had been uploaded from Ranko's personal laptop at the most random times during the late night or early morning before dawn. From the way she was writing, she could ruin the lives of every one of us with a few taps on a keyboard and the click of a mouse. That was scary.

...

*Brrrriiiinnnnnnggggg vvv vvv bbbrrriiinnnggg*

I rolled over onto my side and flopped my hand around my nightstand, still half asleep. "...HelloOo?"

"H-hey, um, Ki-kiyuki?" It was Ranko. Her voice was trembling unnnaturally.

I perked up a bit. "Ranko? What's the matter? Are you ok?"

"U-um- Ah!"

I heard a scuffle as the phone was snatched from Ranko's hand and then dull, boingy thud. A new voice came through the speaker, gravelly and androgynous, wavering between female and male. "Good evening, Mademoiselle Renard Noir."

I scrunched my eyebrows. _Say what?_ "Hello...?"

"I go by Ranko Togoshi. I'm sure you've familiarized yourself with my work by now."

My eyes popped open, all trace of sleep completely gone. "I have," I answered levelly, not letting any reaction slip into my voice.

"Very good. I see here that your friend carries my name as well."

 _She was born with it, you faker._

"I would think that she would be grateful to me, putting such a huge story under her name. I would give her all rights and credit for it if she but asked me."

I took a silent breath and got into character. Putting on in situations like these had saved me more than once in more ways than one. "This sounds like it has nothing to do with me," I said in annoyed voice.

"Oh, but it does. You see, for her to take the credit for the story, this Ranko Togoshi - that is, your friend Ms. Togoshi - would have to be made aware of the fact that you are the girl in the group."

 _You wouldn't dare-_ I almost said out loud, before biting my tongue and steeling myself. "Are you threatening me?"

"Oh no, of course not! That would imply that I'm a bad person - which I assure you, I most certainly am not."

 _And I'll totally take you word for it,_ I thought as I rolled my eyes.

"I simply have a big thing about _lying._ People who love each other, family, friends, significant others, shouldn't keep secrets from each other. It only ends in someone getting hurt and relationships being destroyed. I've made it my personal mission to not let any secret I get my hands on be kept hidden from the ones who should know the most. I have no intention of ousting you noble thieves to the entire world, just to those who matter the most to you. I believe they have every right to know what their loved ones are doing under the cover of night. I very much admire your work; I just don't believe that keeping this information from people you claim to love and trust is morally right."

I remained silent. This person had a point. I mean - wait! No they didn't! We keep it a secret to keep them safe! Wait a second, I've got no reason to justify our actions to this complete stranger! Who do they think they are, anyway?

"So what are you going to do?" I asked, keeping my voice uninterested like I couldn't give two hoots if my family found out that I was a thief.

"I'm going to keep my word," the voice replied in a proper tone. "I'll continue posting the articles in order. I'll tell you, in addition to the four upcoming posts about the remaining guys in your group, there are going to be at least two more articles before the big reveal. I'll remind you that I have no intention of giving your names to the world - the furthest thing from it, actually."

"So you're throwing me a bone? How generous of you."

"Come now, Miss Akahime. Please don't address me that way. I'm only preparing you for what's to come inevitably."

"And you have my deepest gratitude." This cool, collected character drowning in sarcasm was doing a splendid job of masking the panic that was growing inside me.

The voice chuckled. "If you want, you can tell Mr. Kashiwabara that he's next on the list for me to write about. Then I'm still debating between Mr. Hirukawa and Mr. Yanase. Hmm, now that I think about it, I'll do Mr. Yanase first so that I can truly challenge Mr. Hirukawa. He'll be surprised at how much I look up to him as a progammer and a person. Oh! Don't tell him that, though. It'll ruin the surprise."

"We wouldn't want to do that."

"I knew you'd understand, Ms. Akahime. A girl like you is a great addition to the group."

"...Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll talk to you again soon!" The voice had piped up like the person was talking to a friend. "And don't worry about the other Ranko, she's perfectly fine and sleeping peacefully. I set her alarm so she won't be late for work. You have the day off tomorrow, right? Catch some extra Z's to make up for the ones I stole tonight. Good night!"

Click.

I leaned harder onto my propped up elbow as I squinted at my phone screen in the darkness. The imposter was at Ranko's house. I realized that but it just didn't click with me. I should call someone. Had Tatsuro been home? Maybe he'd slept at the office. No way an intruder could get in without him realizing - unless it was us, of course. Which raised an alarming question: Was this imposter not only a computer whiz of some level but also a thief?

* * *

 **Ok, I kinda have an idea of where this is going but...**

 **~cascadedkiwi~**


	4. Chapter 4: It Begins

***peeks from behind a wall and waves timidly* Um... hi! I'm still alive... Here's Chapter 4. Hope you enjoy. *runs away***

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Chapter 4: It begins

I didn't sleep anymore that night, just laid there with my eyes staring up at the darkness until sunlight filtered through the window.

I got ready for work on autopilot. As I stepped out the door, something hit me - RANKO. I yanked out my phone and shot her a text: ' _Hey Ranko, are you ok?'_ I wouldn't be able to speak and Ranko normally responded to texts faster anyway.

Clutching my phone tightly as I made my way to work, I nearly jumped out of my skin when it screamed out with a notification. I stopped in the doorway to check the text.

 _'Yeah girl, I'm fine. I had a freaky dream last night, though. We'll talk later!' - Ranko_

I let out a sigh of relief and held the phone to my chest.

"Uh, Kiyuki? Hello?"

The voice of my coworker, Mitsuru, startled me into realizing I was blocking the entrance to the museum. "Oh, sorry! Hi, Mitsuru!"

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"Yeah," I smiled. "I am now."

I went about my work as usual, managing to keep my thoughts of the imposter at bay until I got off.

I walked into LRN looking pensive.

"Welcome, Kiyuki," came Boss' cheerful voice. "What'll it be?"

"Water," I answered absently, sitting at the bar counter. I drifted off into my thoughts. Ranko had texted me during lunch talking about how bored she was with no interviews. The freaky dream entailed of "some wierdo coming into her room, making her call a friend, and then knocking her out." That sounded about right.

I looked up when the strong smell of orange assaulted my nostrils to see Boss' understanding smile.

"It's hot, sweet, orange-flavored water," He said, "but water nonetheless."

I gave him and half-smile. "Thanks." I sipped at the sweet citrus liquid, closing my eyes at the comforting heat going down my throat and spreading through my chest. "Are we having a meeting tonight?" I asked in a low voice.

He nodded once before going off to tend to another patron.

Boss closed up a bit early and had us gather around Takuto's laptop. Kenshi was missing because he had the late shift at his job. The blogger had posted a new article.

 _Today's star is the boss of The Black Foxes. He's an older guy for you more mature women out there but LADIES, he is NO pushover when it does mostly intel work so you'd have a hard time catching him in the field - but if you're lucky enough to - the man can fight!_

 _And he's such a darling heart; looks after the boys like his own blood. Beard or no beard, glasses or contacts, he's a looker and don't be fooled by his a-dork-able smile. He's got a lot going on in that head of his. Like, he's been through a lot but it doesn't define him or his personality._

 _He definitely knows how to treat a lady._

Hiro tilted his head. "Are we sure Kenny's the one she's got a crush on?"

"This post sounds more like an ad for a matchmaking service," Riki mumbled.

"If Boss' identity gets out," Takuto sneered, "imagine all the desperate old ladies that'll be lined up to meet him."

Atsumu frowned. "I'm not that old!" He insisted. "And I'm sure they would be quite charming, mature ladies."

"Uhhh… anyone remember we're trying to PREVENT this from happening?" Riki called out, steering us back on track.

"Oh, right," Hiro laughed. "Moving on."

 _So, intelligent, strong, caring to a fault, chill on the surface while seasoned and mature underneath-_

"And now he sounds like a cut of meat…"

 _The boss of The Black Foxes is a force to be reckoned with. Connections are key in the shadows and he has MORE than a few._

"This girl is annoying," Takuto grumbled.

"At least she keeps her word," I mumbled without thinking.

"Whadda you mean?" Hiro asked.

"She keeps her word?" Boss repeated in a voice that was half-curious and half-inquiring.

Riki just shot me with a sharp look.

 _Darn their sharp hearing…_ I dropped my gaze to the floor. No one said a word so I sighed and spilled. "I talked to the fake Ranko."

Exclamations of "What?!" "When?!" And "How?!" Filled the bar.

"They called from Ranko's phone at like three something in the morning-" I started to explain when they started up again.

"I knew it was her!" Takkun.

"They stole her phone?!" Hiro.

"No!" I exclaimed. "Just stop!" I shouted. "Please!" A stunned silence took over and I continued. "Ranko called then they took the phone from her. The voice was all warbly so I can't say for sure if it was a boy or girl. They told me that the next article would be about Boss."

"Wait," Atsumu paused with a thoughtful expression. "So they were with her at that time?"

I nodded. "I think they knocked her out when they took the phone."

"Was she at home?" Riki asked.

"Is she ok?" Hiro fired after.

"Yeah, she was home and yeah, she's ok. I texted her when I went to work and she thinks it was a freaky dream."

"I'm guessing her brother wasn't home," Riki mused and I nodded.

"I didn't ask but I don't think so."

Takuto didn't look up from his laptop. "Did the blogger say anything else?"

I thought back. To be honest, I had to keep convincing myself that the incident wasn't a dream as well. "I remember them saying something about lying… Like, we shouldn't lie to people we trust or love the most... "

Hiro scrunched his eyebrows at this. "Where did that come from?"

I shrugged. "They were really adamant about it. Going on about how they admire what you do but nothing good comes from keeping secrets and we owe certain people the truth- it was weird. I can't remember it all to be honest."

Riki huffed. "That's rich coming from someone hiding behind someone else's name."

"Oh!" I looked up. "Speaking of names, they called all of you guys' last names."

Everyone but Boss' eyes went wide.

"Last names," Takuto repeated.

"Yeah. Mr. Kashiwabara, Mr. Yanase, Mr. Hirukawa. Just like that."

Riki's eyes narrowed fiercely. "She's dangerous. She knows too much."

"I was also thinking that she might have thief experience…" I mumbled to the ground.

At this Takuto looked up, although he didn't stop typing. "What makes you think that?"

"She got in and out of Ranko's house without a trace. I told you, Ranko thinks it was a dream."

"So she's good with computers and is good at sneaking in, supposedly," Riki surmised.

"And we've got nothing to go on to set about even finding anything on this person," Atsumu continued with a hard face. "She's working like a professional but I get the feeling she's toying with us."

Hiro frowned. "I don't like this game."

Riki looked at me. "Did they give any hint at a time frame?"

"Well, all the guys will have a post dedicated to them," I spoke as I replayed what little I could remember, "so with you two and Hiro left, that's three, then I think she said two more before the big reveal."

"I'm guessing she didn't say if these would be daily or whatever," Takuto grumbled.

 _Not that I remember,_ I thought as I shook my head, smartly keeping that comment to myself.

"So that's at least 3-5 days we have," Riki said to himself. I could almost see the actual gears turning in his head as he tried to come up with a plan. "We may have to lure her out," I thought I heard him mumble under his breath.

* * *

 **It's coming together somewhat, I think. I don't have a laptop/computer so I can't type/post regularly BUT I do have ideas and drafts for future chapters handwritten in my book!**

 **~cascadedkiwi~**


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